Photographic Equipment Links

Camera System Manufacturers

Canon

Canon was founded in 1931 as an optics company. During their early years they marketed copies of the German Leica cameras and developed innovations like the focal plane shutter and zoom lenses for the television industry. In 1951 they marketed their first full Canon-designed camera that featured a f/.95 lens. Canon’s products continued to demonstrate industry-leading technological innovation. In the 1970s Canon marketed their F-1 professional SLR and famous FD line of lenses. The first computer-controlled camera, the AE-1, was developed in 1976 and won Canon world-wide recognition. Canon’s focus on leading-edge technology has put them at the forefront of the photographic industry.

Maja Dumat from Deutschland (Germany), CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The Canon AE-1 debuted in 1976 and was on the market for 8 years. It’s ground-breaking sales of 5.7 million units were due to its computer-controlled automation, small size, and excellent quality.

Fujifilm

Fuji Film is a Japanese company that began producing photographic film in 1923. It grew into the second largest producer of photographic film, second only to Eastman Kodak. They started to produce cameras and lenses at about the same time under the Fujica name. Fujica cameras always had an industry presence, especially their unique medium format cameras such as the GX and GS lines. After the industry transition to digital cameras, Fujifilm has specialized in APS-C format cameras and in their medium format GFX line. They continue to be industry leaders in camera design and in the production of high quality optics.

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The Fujifilm X100 is their most popular X series camera. It has gone through 6 updates and continues to be a top seller in the APS-C compact segment.

Hasselblad

During World War Two, Victor Hasselblad was charged with the task of building the Swedish Airforce a camera for arial surveillance. Given a captured German camera, Hasselblad promised to build one that was exceeded its quality. He established a workshop that hand-built arial surveillance cameras and, after the war, entered the consumer market with the 1948 model 1600F. Hasselblad earned a well-deserved reputation as the highest quality line of medium format cameras. They continue to hand build the highest quality medium format cameras and lenses for the digital era.

I, Diser55, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

The Hasselblad 1600F set the pattern for Hasselblad design for the next 60 years - even into the mirrorless era. Known for had-made precision, durability, and quality, Hasselblad defined the standard for medium format professional cameras.

Hannes Grobe, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Leica pioneered the use of 35mm and the 24x36mm image format. The Leica M3 was the first camera to capture the interest of photojournalists, artists, and general photographers due to its quality, compact size, and ease of use. The Leica M line continued into the digital era.

Leica

Leica is the oldest “modern” camera company and is credited with inventing the 35mm format that brought high-quality photography to the masses. Leica was founded by Ernst Leitz of Wetzlar, Germany in 1869. Thier first 50 years were devoted to producing high quality optics. In 1913 Leica’s first 35mm camera prototype was created by designer Oskar Barnack. Barnack chose to use common movie film but extended the frame size to 24x36mm from the standard 18x24mm used in film. By 1925 the design was presented to the public. During World War Two Leica produced the model 1 and 2, which were grew in popularity due to their quality and small size. Post-war, their M3 rangefinder, coupled with world-leading optics, became the staple of artists and journalists worldwide. Leica’s dominance of this segment continued into the 1960s when Japanese cameras like the Nikon F began to grow in popularity. Today, Leica continues to produce high-end miniature cameras and lenses. They occupy the “luxury segment” of the industry by producing exceptional equipment.

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC1 was the first camera sold under the Lumix name. It featured a Leica-branded lens.

Lumix

Lumix is a subsidiary of Panasonic, a Japanese electric and electronics company founded in the 1890s. Panasonic had been a leader in the video camera industry and developed the Lumix brand in 2003 to continue offering imaging products in the digital age. Lumix has ties to Leica Corporation and offers a number of Leica branded lenses on its cameras. Lumix currently offers mirrorless cameras in the APS-C and Full Frame formats. Lumix cameras are known for their excellent video capabilities.

Nikon

Nikon was founded in 1917 in a merger between three optics companies. In their early years their specialty was in binoculars and, as World War Two drew nearer, on optics for the military. Post-war, Nikon turned to camera lenses and by the 1950s they were becoming known for quality that rivaled German optics. Their “big break” came in 1959 when they released the Nikon F, a professional SLR that came to dominate the professional segment of the market. Nikon continues to produce professional level photographic equipment. They are also active in the sport, medical, and semiconductor sectors.

Minya S, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The legendary Nikon F popularized the SLR camera and quickly became standard equipment for photojournalists and other professional photographers. It offered rugged dependabilty, a high-quality line of interchangable lenses, and due to its interchangable view finders, the ability to accept new components as technology progressed.

Olympus

Olympus was a Japanese optics and electronics company that was founded in 1919. They began producing their own cameras and lenses in 1953 and debuted their wildly popular Pen line of cameras in 1959. Their OM line of cameras and lenses competed with Canon, Nikon, and Minolta during the 1970s and 1980s. Olympus was known for high quality and industry leading innovation. More recently, Olympus produced an innovative line of mirrorless cameras using the Micro Four Thirds format. Their financial collapse in the late 2010s led to selling the photographic division, now branded OM Systems.

Kevin Russell, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The Olympus OM-2 came out in 1975 and was a technological leap forward. The OM-2 offered off-the-filmplane metering that could correct exposure and flash exposure during exposure. This was offered in a high-quality, compact package.

Sony

Sony is a relative newcomer to the camera industry, having produced their first DSLR in 2006. However, Sony had long been an industry leader in video industry. They entered the camera market by purchasing Konica-Minolta, a company with roots going back to the early 1900s. Minolta was a technological pioneer in autofocus and in early digital cameras. Due to their focus on research and digital imaging, Sony quickly became an industry leader by producing cutting-edge, high-quality cameras and lenses.

The current A9 III exemplifies Sony’s commitment to cutting-edge technology in the photographic industry. It features the first global shutter, which instantly records the entire viewfinder image. This allows for a blistering frame raate of 125 fps.